Chapter 24: Ashworth

The divorce decree came through on the eighteenth of December, with the house in my name and a line that gave me back the one I was born with.

I read it standing in the driveway in Arvada, in a coat that finally buttoned.

A locksmith was changing the front door.

A deputy stood by the hedge with a clipboard, because the court had ordered the exchange to be supervised.

Carter's mother was there.

She had come in her own car, alone, with four cardboard boxes in the back.

"These are his," she said. "I packed them. He isn't coming."

"Thank you."

"He's pleaded to the expense charges. His lawyer says he'll avoid jail." She put the last box on the porch. "He asked me to tell you he's sorry."

"Did he say what for?"

She thought about it, honestly.

"No," she said. "I don't think he knew."

She looked at the window where the nursery light was on.

"The first visit is on the ninth," she said. "I'll be in the room, if you'll let me."

"The county supervisor will be in the room."

"Then I'll sit behind her."

"All right," I said.

She nodded and drove away.

Nate came up the walk with Charlie on one arm and a toolbox on the other.

My son wore a hat with ears, and he had learned that month to laugh.